


Rise of the Pardus

by Dazeventura6



Series: Pardus [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Creature Fic, F/M, M/M, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 06:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20353663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazeventura6/pseuds/Dazeventura6
Summary: Harry gets a unique inheritance directly from Lady Magic on his sixteenth birthday and learns to work with old friends and rivals to defeat Voldemort.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [penumbria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria/gifts).
  * Inspired by [ART for "Rise of the Pardus" by DazeVentura](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20275975) by [penumbria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria/pseuds/penumbria). 

> The whole thing is AU after the end of book 5. The creature inheritance is my own creation. I don't know if there is anything similar in mythology but this is just my silly little idea. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Beta: Grammarly

Harry was restless. He felt like he was full of energy that had no way of getting out as he was locked in his room as usual at the Dursleys for another long, dismal summer. The power had been building all day, and Harry knew that it would crest at midnight. 

Harry has been warned that he would be receiving a power boost on his sixteenth birthday. He had been expecting a modest increase in his magic, but this felt like a storm under his skin. It just kept building and building with no end in sight. Harry began to fear what the power surge when the clock hit midnight on the 31st would be like. Meanwhile, he paced around and around the meagre few feet of his room.

As it got closer to the witching hour, he threw himself down on his bed and stared at the dull ceiling tiles with disinterest. His mind was spinning off in different directions, the main being the hope that the Ministry wouldn't come down on him for accidental magic when his inheritance hit him.

As midnight struck, Harry felt his vision tunnel and blackness pulling him under like a smothering blanket in the summer heat.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at what looked like a pale green sky. He started in shock and scrambled to sit up, looking around. The pale green sky wasn't the only weird thing he could see. He appeared to be sitting on the grassy ground in the middle of a clearing in the woods. Only the grass was a strange reddish-brown, and the trees in the forest were deep purple instead of brown. The leaves that crunched underfoot at least looked like the kind he would see at home in autumn. And to top it all off a few feet away from him lay Draco Malfoy, pale and pointy and….. unconscious. 

As Harry gaped at the place, he found himself the blonde stirred and groaned rubbing his face as he sat up.

"What the hell did I do last night?" The blonde muttered to himself. 

"I don't know what you did, but I would really like to know what I did to be stuck in this place with you of all people," Harry answered making the Slytherin jerk in shock and swivel his head rapidly to focus on Harry in shock. The blonde glared at Harry for a minute before turning his gaze to his surroundings and staring open-mouthed at the sights.

Harry would probably have been more amused by this rare crack in the cool facade Draco usually presented to the world if he wasn't just as shocked himself. 

"Where the fuck are we?" Draco ground out his mouth snapping shut and a look of irritation crossing his features as he realized he was gaping.

"Well Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Harry snarked.

"Does that make you Dorothy in this scenario then?" Draco asked snorting, "Fitting, I suppose." 

Harry gaped in surprise, again. He hadn't been expecting Draco to know the Wizard of Oz. He had first seen the movie in school when a substitute teacher had played it one time in primary school. It had struck a chord in Harry for some reason, and when he had found an old battered copy in the free books bin at his library, he had grabbed it and kept it safely hidden away in his cupboard among his other treasures. 

The copy had finally fallen apart when he was ten from repeated readings and broken Harry's heart.

"You know muggle literature?" Harry asked eyes wide in shock.

Draco gave him one disdainful look and turned away.

"No thanks to my father." He muttered, "Severus is my godfather. He insisted on me knowing the 'classics' of muggle literature. I think he sold the idea to my father as something about knowing your enemy." Draco continued sullenly.

Harry stared.

"You don't know everything about me, Potter." The blonde snapped, turning in place as he looked around. 

"Never thought I did." Harry returned as he too took stock of their surroundings warily.

"Ok, this is annoying. Why the fuck am I stuck with you in this surreal place. If it's a dream, it's not a very good one." The blonde groused, folding his arms in front of him.

Harry couldn't help but agree with him, although he kept that fact to himself.

"What's the last thing you remember, Malfoy?" Harry asked, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"I remember falling asleep in my bed at the Manor. I think." Draco answered thoughtfully, his trademark snark missing for once, "You?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Lying in my bed at the Dursleys waiting for my magical inheritance to peak at midnight." Harry answered, "Doesn't answer the question of where the fuck we are or what we are doing here...together."

"Language, Harry, dear." A feminine voice said gently.

"Sorry," Harry muttered automatically rubbing the back of his neck even as both boys turned towards the voice.

Harry gaped at the woman in front of him. She was beautiful. It was the only thing he could tell for sure. Whether she was old or young, brunette or blonde, tall or short, he couldn't pinpoint. Her features seemed to shift and change as he looked so one minute she looked like his mother and another she looked like Hermione or some other female in his life. She was maiden, mother and crone all at once. Terrifying and comforting at the same time, and Harry didn't know what to make of her.

"Who are you? And where are we?" He asked in a slightly strangled voice. Her changing looks, making him want to shut his eyes lest he get dizzy.

"I am Magic." The Lady said, "And this is my world. I brought both your minds here as you slept."

"Greetings my Lady. How may I be of service to one such as you?" Draco asked, throwing a nasty look at a still gaping Harry.

Harry had heard of Lady Magic, the creator of them all, but he had never expected to meet her in person. He hadn't really believed that she was real. For that matter, he was wondering if this was real or just all in his head.

"Oh, Harry dear, of course, it's happening in your heads, but that doesn't make it any less real." She said, making Harry jerk in shock. She had read his mind. He shook his head at himself. Of course, she had. She was Lady Magic after all, or a figment of his imagination but either way she had full access to his head. It made him uncomfortable that she could see his thoughts, but he just stayed silent listening to her as she continued.

"And Draco dear we are here so Harry may receive his magical inheritance as the first Pardus in a thousand years. He will then activate yours. He is alpha, so he comes first and from him the rest of you." The Lady answered, smiling kindly.

Draco gritted his teeth in anger. Why the hell did it always have to be about Potter? Everyone was always making much of the Chosen One. Draco was every bit as special as Potter. He knew this, but only Severus seemed to see this in school. All the other teachers thought the sun shone out of Potter's arse, he thought resentfully.

"Now Draco, you know that isn't true. You are just as special to me in your own way as Harry is; all my children are special to me. Besides, I need you to be his beta and second-in-command and help him in his task. I need both of you to help right the wrongs and restore the balance in your world. Tell me, my sons, will you help me restore the magical balance? If you do not learn to work together, Voldemort will win, and thanks to his cruel war and his genocide of muggle-borns magic will disappear from your world within a single generation." The Lady said in a quiet voice that nonetheless held weight.

Harry wasn't surprised that he had been chosen for this task. It seemed to be his lot in life to do these things, but he was astonished that he had to work with Draco Malfoy of all people. He sighed.

"As you will, my Lady." He answered softly his tiredness and inherent sadness that never seemed to leave him anymore still evident in his voice despite his best efforts. 

Lady Magic smiled gently at him and stroked his cheek softly.

"I know little one, great weights have been placed on your shoulders. But it is because you have the strength to bear them. I wish I could have spared you your horrible childhood, but Dumbledore was a fool who refused to listen to reason. There are limits to my power in your world now, thanks to fools like him and Riddle." She said, "That is one of the things I wish you to change for me."

Harry shot a quick glance at Malfoy when the Lady mentioned his childhood and found the blonde wearing a puzzled frown. Harry did not want Draco of all people finding out about his horrible home life and taunting him about it. He shuddered to think about what the blonde boy would say if he knew about the cupboard under the stairs. On the other hand, if he had to work with Malfoy, maybe it would be better to find out precisely what the prat thought of him sooner rather than later. Besides the Lady hadn't left him much choice in keeping his secrets.

"Dumbledore believes that family begins and ends in blood. He doesn't think that blood family could ever be as bad as mine is." Harry said shrugging while he watched the strangely silent blonde out of the corner of his eye.

"Wait a minute. You said Pardus? We're going to be Pardus?" Draco asked shock evident in his voice.

"Indeed. There is a need for my spirit cats to rise again, and Harry will be leading you all as the strongest of your pack. You Draco will be his second-in-command. If you agree to work together, that is." Lady Magic answered a gentle smile on her confusing features. 

Draco still grumbled in his mind about Harry being alpha, but the excitement of being one of the fabled spirit cats was drowning out his dissatisfaction. 

"Umm, I'm sorry, but what exactly are Pardes...or whatever it was you said?" Harry asked, hesitantly.

He just knew that Malfoy was going to mock his ignorance, but he needed to know. True to form Draco opened his mouth to sneer but was quelled easily by a look from the Lady.

"Pardus are my spirit cats. My warriors. The ones I trust to do my bidding on your world. When you receive your inheritance, you will be able to shift into winged, big cats rather like Panthers with wings. You will also have other abilities which I will train you to use here before sending you back to your sleeping bodies." She said gently. 

"Oh, but won't they miss us? I mean if it takes too long even my relatives will notice something." Harry asked, turning trusting green eyes on the Lady. For some reason, he couldn't pinpoint he trusted her implicitly even though this made him a little uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, no matter how much time passes in my realm, only a night will have passed in yours." The Lady answered. "Now, do you boys agree to try to work together to save Magic on your world?" She asked, looking between them.

Draco sneered at Potter one last time before turning to the Lady.

"How could I refuse you, my Lady?" He said sketching a short, courteous bow to her.

"Of course. It might be difficult. But I'm willing to try." Harry said with an apprehensive glance at Malfoy.

"Good. Now your first assignment is to talk to each other. You need to understand each other and yourselves before you can start learning to harness your powers." She said, turning to walk away. As she disappeared, her voice drifted back to them, "Play nice, boys." And she was gone.

Draco bared his teeth at Harry. 'He'd be damned if he spoke first. And there was no way he would follow the speccy git's orders as alpha.'

"So, umm….how have your holidays been so far Malfoy?" Harry asked, hesitantly. He wasn't happy about working with the blonde, but it seemed to be the only way so he would do his best.

Draco snorted, "Oh, just perfect. My holidays have been just perfect, Potter. What do you think? My father is in jail; my mother is a wreck who fled to the Continent to escape the Dark Lord's wrath, leaving me alone in the Manor with the house-elves. How do you think it's been?" He snapped glaring at Harry.

"It is not my fault your father was arrested. If he hadn't been stupid enough to pledge himself to that monster and attack my friends and me in the Ministry, he wouldn't have been arrested." Harry snapped back.

"Oh, yes, you and your perfect friends. You had no business being in the Ministry either. Your perfect friends who stunned us and ran off with you on some hare-brained scheme. What were you even doing there anyway?" Draco growled, folding his arms in front of him. 

Harry's face fell at the reminder of what he had lost that night.

"Voldemort sent me a vision of him torturing my godfather in the Ministry. I was trying to save him, but instead, I ended up being the reason he died." Harry said in a soft, defeated voice.

"Sirius Black? You lot went there chasing after that criminal?" Draco asked gaping a little both at the defeated slump of Harry's shoulders and the new information. He had never seen the other boy so dulled and sad before. 

"Don't you dare call him a criminal. He was completely innocent of all the charges. The only thing he was guilty of was breaking out of Azkaban, and since he shouldn't have been there in the first place, it doesn't count." Harry spat, his eyes full of green fire again.

"I have allowed you to show each other memories with just the touch of your hand while you are here. You may use this to help get to know each other better." The Lady's voice sounded in the wind.

Harry looked up at that then looked at Draco speculatively, "Would you like to see what really happened that night?" he asked. He would start with this and depending on how the blonde reacted to this painful memory would consider sharing the rest with Malfoy.

Malfoy nodded warily and reached out to take Harry's offered hand. A thrill of warmth went through Harry at the touch but he didn't have time to think about it before he was pulled into the memories of that day from the first painful vision from Voldemort till the final attempt by the monster to possess him, right up until they landed in the hospital wing afterwards Harry felt the memories bombard him renewing the pain of Sirius' death once again. When the memories stopped, Harry pulled his hand away gently opening his eyes to see the slightly shocked expression on the blonde's face.

"Y-you really fought him. And that's what he looks like now? H-how could anyone think that a monster like that would be worth following?" The blonde muttered almost to himself. Draco steeled himself and met Harry's eyes again.

"Sometimes, I wonder if my dad really is right about the things he believes." Draco said softly, "If he really believes as he seems to that serving at the feet of that monster is the right thing to do, and he's clearly wrong about that then what else is he wrong about?"

"I can tell you that muggles are not that different than wizards. They are incredibly inventive and capable; they have figured out so many ways of doing the things we do with magic in other ways. Alright so it takes them a little longer to do these things, but they still manage them just fine. Hermione's parents are muggles, and they are quite nice people." Harry answered, "They really don't deserve to be slaughtered just for their lack of magic. That would be like judging all wizards Dark based on just the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Not all muggles are magic hating arseholes….just my relatives." Harry finished softly.

"You keep insinuating that they are horrible. What exactly did they do to you that was so horrible? Not give you enough presents for Christmas?" Draco sneered. He was trying hard to reconcile all the things he had been taught was true with the recent revelations by Lady Magic and Harry.

"Try none at all, Malfoy. The first present I remember getting was Hedwig and Hagrid gave her to me on my eleventh birthday. My relatives hate magic with a vengeance they didn't tell me I was a wizard and denied categorically the existence of magic. Anytime I did what I now know was accidental magic, they beat me and locked me in my cupboard and starved me. Oh, and until I started Hogwarts my bedroom was a cupboard under the stairs after we got my first Hogwarts letter they moved me into my cousin's second bedroom. They also made me cook and clean and do all the yard work from the time I could walk and talk. I didn't exactly lead the life of a pampered prince that you did Malfoy." Harry ranted too furious to notice the disbelief and sympathy in Draco's face.

"Why didn't someone do anything about it? How could anyone leave a magical child to suffer like this? Surely Dumbledore or-or the Ministry would have had someone monitoring your situation?" Draco said, shocked at these revelations. Along with the rest of the magical world, he had believed that the Chosen One lived a life of pampered luxury with his muggle relatives.

"The magical world doesn't care. As long as I continue to fight their battles for them, they couldn't care less if I lived or died. Maybe my friends would care, well, Hermione would. Ron is going to be mad about these new powers now. I have my doubts as to whether our friendship will survive this. Especially this thing with you being my second." Harry said sighing. 

"I never really understood what you saw in the Weasel anyway. Granger for all that she is a mudblood is at least smart and loyal." Draco drawled and rapidly found himself pinned to the ground by an unseen force and Harry glaring into his face.

"Don't you dare call her that. Just because she's muggle-born doesn't make her less than you. She's much smarter than you or me. If this is going to work, then you will learn to respect muggle-borns." Harry hissed into his face, and he pointed his wand at Draco, keeping him pressed into the ground.

"I have to agree with Harry about that Draco. You will learn to respect muggle-borns. They are closer to the magic that the so-called purebloods as I personally chose them to bear the magic. Without muggle-borns, the magical world would stagnate and disappear in just a couple of generations. Why do you think I wish you to stop Riddle? Tom needs to be put out of his misery. Send him to me sooner rather than later, and I am counting on you, both of you to do this." Lady Magic said appearing suddenly next to them. Draco glared angrily at them both before nodding faintly.

"Let him up, Harry dear. Now I really must insist that you boys not fight. No insulting each other's friends or family. Harry, you may tell Draco the truth about Voldemort and Lucius but no insults. No fighting you two." She said before she faded away.

Harry huffed unhappily and allowed the spell to dissipate. He wasn't entirely sure which spell he had used or how he had managed to do it so fast, and it unsettled him a little. He still kept a wary eye out for retaliation from Malfoy, but the blonde seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

Draco's mind was racing, The Lady herself had said that muggle-borns should be respected and she couldn't be wrong. Exactly how wrong was his father about the world they lived in and his place in it? Was he even right about anything? Granted Lucius wasn't the most loving or demonstrative of parents, but he had always made sure that Draco never lacked anything he wanted, except the time and attention of his parents. Now he had to wonder if he should throw out every belief and thought his father had given him and start from scratch.

"That would not be a bad idea" The Lady's voice whispered through his mind. Draco nodded to himself. He could do this. The Lady had faith in him. He was going to be one of her trusted spirit cats and help lead the magical world into a new age. He would make his family proud of him even if he couldn't follow all the tenets his family set out for him.

Draco straightened a new determination in his steely grey eyes, "My father told me about what happened at the end of the Tri-wizard tournament, but I have a feeling that he was biased and wrong. Would you mind showing me that memory?" he asked, looking up at the green-eyed boy.

Harry was not sure how to handle this new Draco. The blonde had not reacted at all like he had expected him to. There had been no teasing or taunting about his rotten childhood or mocking about Sirius. In fact, other than the slur against Hermione, it was almost as if he was a very different boy than Harry had known all these years.

Harry nodded and reached out his hand for Draco to take, watching with the blonde as the memory of landing in the graveyard with Cedric and Wormtail casually killing Cedric started to move past his mind's eye. When the memory reached the point where Harry landed in Hogwarts, holding Cedric's body, Harry pulled his hand away, ending the flow of memories.

Draco opened his eyes blinking slowly.

"I still can't believe that you stood up to him like that. And my father and the other Death Eaters bowing and scraping like they were his servants. How could he follow a man who treats him like that?" Draco said almost like he was thinking aloud, a new respect for Harry in his eyes.

Harry left Malfoy to his thoughts for a few minutes as it seemed that the blonde had a lot of new ideas to assimilate.

Finally, the blonde turned to look at Harry, "Why does Lady Magic want to stop Riddle? Who is Riddle?" he asked.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle is Voldemort's real name. His squib mother named him after his muggle father. Voldemort is himself at best a half-blood with daddy issues that he insists on taking out on the world." Harry answered, disdainfully. 

Draco gaped as he realized that his proud pureblood father willingly followed a man who was the son of a squib. It was possible his father didn't know, but Draco didn't think so. He shuddered as another deeply held conviction crumbled under the force of this new knowledge. It was widely known that Dumbledore was a half-blood and Voldemort feared him more than anyone other than Harry who was himself a half-blood. It shattered his beliefs that the three most powerful wizards alive were all half-bloods, not purebloods as he had been taught. Draco sighed; he would have to think about this. He felt like he had run miles with no respite, rearranging his deeply held beliefs was as exhausting as a four-hour-long Quidditch game.

Harry watched the conflicting emotions flit across Malfoy's face too fast for him to really make out what they were.

"Do you think you can work with me? After what you just learned?" Harry asked.

The blonde looked up startled from his thoughts and smiled wryly at Harry, "Yeah, I think so. Just don't expect me to follow your orders without question." He said.

Harry snorted, "As if." He held out a hand to the blonde, "Truce?" he asked.

"Truce," Draco answered, taking the offered hand even as his mind replayed the rejected handshake from their first train journey.

"I'm glad you boys decided to work together." The Lady said, appearing next to Harry soundlessly and startling both boys, "Now, you will both need training in shifting your forms as well as your other abilities. You, Harry, as alpha will have control over all four of the elements and you, Draco, as his beta will be able to control both water and fire. In addition, you will need to practice your shadow-travel skills, as well. In addition, you will need to test out your soul-sensing abilities so that you may find your soul-mates when you return to your own realm." She said, ignoring their surprise.

"Umm…my Lady, what is shadow-travel? And we get soul-mates?" Harry asked, hesitantly at the end of her speech. He wasn't sure he wanted all that power, but it would help defeat Voldemort so he would take it. Draco hesitated to agree with anything Harry had said, but he wanted to know the answers to those questions as well, so he listened carefully to her response.

"Dislocation is like Apparition but not as noisy. You can travel nearly soundlessly from place to place as I just did. You can travel through any wards that are currently in use in your realm. I think you boys will find it very useful as it does not require a wand just like your control of the elemental magic does not require a wand. And yes for all the burdens I must place on you, you will have the pleasure of finding your perfect match, someone who will be everything you need and love you as no one else can or will." The Lady answered.

Harry grimaced slightly, "No offence my Lady, but it just seems like one more thing that is not under my control." He said, ignoring Draco's snort and focusing on The Lady.

"You will be able to find your soulmate child, whether you or they decide to do anything about it and let your relationship blossom is entirely up to you. All I can do is offer you this gift to do with as you choose."The Lady answered gently.

"Thank you." Harry answered quietly, "I'm not trying to be ungrateful my Lady….it's just…" he trailed off.

"I understand, my son. Dumbledore has made sure to make you feel like every aspect of your life is under his control, and you are powerless while also throwing you into every life-threatening situation possible. Don't worry. With the powers you will have after tonight, you will never feel powerless again." The Lady said a quick flash of anger in her eyes as she mentioned Dumbledore's name.

"I don't think he really meant to make me feel that way." Harry began slowly, not sure if he should defend the old man when he did agree with what she said but unable to help himself.

"I agree, he didn't mean to, but the results speak for themselves, don't you think?" She answered, and Harry reluctantly nodded, "He is not a bad man, but the power and fame following his defeat of Grindelwald have gone to his head, and he began to believe his own hype that he could do no wrong. He needs a lesson in humility, and he recently got one. But never mind that. This is the time for you boys to train and get to know each other better so you can work together. You will need to be in perfect control so you can train the rest of your pack as they reveal themselves to you and come into their gifts." She finished and turned gesturing for them to follow.

The boys exchanged glances and followed her into an arena that appeared in front of them.


	2. Chapter 2

What felt like the next few weeks were spent with the ancient warriors who had been pardus before them, training their elemental powers. Harry trained with one warrior who had lived a thousand years ago and been the alpha of his pack. He went by the name Shadow, and although Harry had a feeling that the man had gone by a different name when he had been alive, Harry knew better than to press. The alpha was hard on him and trained him relentlessly until he felt like his limbs were limp noodles by the end of each day.

Draco, on the other hand, spent all his time with another warrior who had been Shadow's beta in life. The woman who went by the name Althea was fierce, and as much of a taskmaster as Shadow was. The first half of the day was spent training with their individual trainers but the afternoon, if it could be called that, was spent training to fight each other as well as together against their trainers. 

They also spent time learning to shift into their winged-panther forms and learning the forms themselves and later they were taught how to fly. The first time Harry saw Draco in his form, he was taken aback by the sheer beauty and grace of the other boy's form, pure white with pale ice blue-grey eyes. His own form was an utterly unsurprising jet black with green eyes. Both boys seemed to really enjoy the freedom and grace that their new forms gave them, and they began to move with more grace and confidence even in their human forms.

By the end of the day, it was all the boys could do to collapse on the beds they had been given and complain desultorily about their trainers to each other. Being forced to live together and train together in the same space for an extended period and with their usual animosity gone had left them feeling awkward around each other initially. 

But as the days passed, they slowly relaxed around each other, and Harry's curiosity got the better of him. The brunet finally broke and asked Draco to show him some memories of growing up in the wizarding world. In exchange, Draco demanded some of Harry's memories of his adventures over the past few years. 

After they made the deal every night after training, they spent trading memories that got more personal and intimate as the time went on and their understanding of each other got better. Harry learned about the casual neglect of Draco's childhood spent mostly with the house-elves where he got everything he asked for, and very little affection or attention from either parent and Draco learned about the desperate kind of bravery of Harry and his friends and learned to respect it. Draco found the more he looked, the more he saw similarities between them and it both reassured and unsettled him as the days went on.

The first time Harry had a nightmare and cried out Cedric's name Draco woke him up only to find himself pinned under Harry as he stared unseeingly down at the blonde.

"Potter… Harry! Wake up." Draco said, pushing at Harry's limbs surprised by how safe he felt pinned under the other boy.

Harry started and woke up properly.

"Malfoy?" he said sleepily. "What are you doing in my bed?" he asked still not wholly awake even as he rolled off the blonde.

"I was trying to wake you up when you man-handled me into your bed Potter," Draco muttered disgruntled by the sense of loss when Harry moved away.

"Oh, sorry," Harry mumbled apologetically refusing to meet the other boy's eyes.

When Draco moved to get off the bed though Harry reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Could—could you stay….just for a bit?" He asked, hesitantly.

Draco sighed and nodded getting back in the bed, not quite as reluctant as he pretended to be. Lying next to Harry gave him a feeling of warmth and comfort like no other, and he could understand perfectly why the brunet wanted him there. Harry slowly inched closer until he was touching Draco from shoulder to knee. Draco huffed and put his arm around Harry, pulling him closer, and Harry snuggled closer happily.

"Thanks," Harry said in a slightly muffled voice as his face was pressed into Draco's chest.

Draco said nothing and shortly both boys slipped into sleep.

The next morning was slightly awkward, but it wore off by the time they were slinging magic and firing their spells at each other in training. That night when nightmares beset Harry again this time of Sirius' death Draco simply climbed into Harry's bed and pulled him into his arms, not bothering to wake him and Harry soon calmed down and fell into a restful sleep.

After that, the boys simply gave up on the idea of sleeping apart and started the night wrapped in each other's arms. They were getting the best sleep of their lives, and neither of them was keen to question it too much. In the back of Harry's mind was the question of what his soulmate would think about this, but he kept quiet as he didn't want to lose this comfort.

Lady magic they hardly ever saw other than the occasional glimpse as she oversaw their training.

At the end of what felt like a month in the Lady's realm, the boys were pronounced trained and ready to leave. Neither boy was too keen to leave and lose the camaraderie they had found here, but they knew they had to in order to do as the Lady bid them.

The magic in the realm was such that it interfered with the soul-sensing abilities, but they had been told it would be easy once they were in their own bodies and they would be able to speak to their trainers in dreams if necessary.

Just before she would send their minds back to their sleeping bodies, the Lady met with them.

"You boys have made me very proud. You work together very well, better than I had hoped given your previous animosity. Now as to finding your mates and the rest of your pack just follow what your magic is telling you. As soon as you awake, you will be drawn directly to your mate first. The people who stand by you and stay loyal despite all the changes are the ones who will become your pack. You will sense it in their magic when you are near them. Like this." She said, placing a hand to each of their foreheads and giving them memories of the way Shadow and Althea had found each other and their pack.

"Finally, Harry, you should know that Voldemort has split his soul into eight pieces and hidden them in different places. There was one in your scar, and I have taken the liberty of removing it while you were here. It was the source of his connection to you. You should be able to sense the remaining soul fragments if you are in the same building as the objects. You will just have to remember how the diary felt." The Lady said, placing a hand comfortingly on Harry's shoulder.

Both boys blanched at the thought of a soul fragment in Harry's scar but nodded at her instructions. With one final look at each other and their trainers, the boys faded back into their own bodies.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry woke to find himself in his panther form on the floor of his room at the Dursleys'. He shook himself and stretched to remove the kinks of what felt like a night on the floor. Harry then turned around to get a good look at his form in the real world. It looked and moved just as it had in the other realm. Pleased with the smoothness of his movements he shifted back to human to find that his body had grown and filled out erasing years of neglect and malnutrition making him almost as tall as Ron if the way his clothes seem to have shrunk was any indication.

Well pleased with this he mentally thanked Lady Magic for his new health and height receiving a burst of warm affection from her in return. He mentally reached for his magic and felt it warm and comforting deep within. As promised, he felt a tug towards the one who was his soulmate. Harry shrugged it could wait until he had had a shower and something to eat. It was still early, and none of the Dursleys were awake, yet so he might be able to get in a relaxing shower and something more substantial than table-scraps for once. As Harry walked into his room rubbing his hair dry after a bath, he felt the magic move behind him and feeling the tug within him intensify he realized it was probably his soul-mate even as he spun around hands transforming into claws.

Harry couldn't really say he was surprised to see Draco standing in front of him.

Both boys stared at each other for a few moments before Draco broke the silence.

"I know what you said before, but can you live with me as your soulmate?" Draco asked, "Would you want to try a relationship with me?" he asked hope in his eyes buried but still visible to Harry.

"After what we've been through, I was half expecting this, Malfoy. And truthfully I'd rather you than anyone else. You know me better than even my best friends do now." Harry sighed. "C' mere and let's try this shall we?" Harry said, taking Draco's hand and pulling him closer.

Harry leaned forward and brushed a hesitant kiss over the blonde's lips. Draco responded eagerly opening his mouth and nibbling at Harry's lips. Soon the kiss had turned passionate. 

When they separated breathing hard, foreheads pressed together; Harry panted out, "Yeah. I can definitely get used to this." A grin splitting his face.

Draco returned the grin slipping his arms around Harry's neck to pull the Gryffindor closer.

"Umm hmm." He said before kissing Harry again.

They spent a few minutes just kissing and exploring each others' mouths leisurely, neither in a hurry to push for more intimacy despite the hardness pressing against their clothes. This was fine, this was perfect, and there would be time for more, later.

After some time Draco's stomach gave a protesting growl, and the boys broke apart laughing.

"Let's get you something to eat, shall we?" Harry said, standing up from the bed where they had ended up tangled together.

Draco stood up and stretched, looking around properly for the first time since he had arrived there.

"Merlin, Harry! This place is even more of a dump than you led me to believe. We have to get you out of here as soon as possible. I will not have my mate and alpha acting as a house-elf for these filthy muggles." He said, taking Harry's hand and reluctantly following the other boy.

Harry smiled at the blonde, "Indeed, I'm sure you'd rather I cater to only your needs from now on." He teased.

"Naturally," Draco said mock-affronted, his nose in the air.

Harry chuckled lightly and pressed a quick kiss to Draco's cheek before pulling him down the stairs. As Harry rummaged around in the kitchen, putting some food for the two of them, Draco prowled about examining everything curiously.

"Muggles are weird, Potter. I don't know what they would do with half these things." The blonde said poking tentatively at the microwave as if it would bite.

Harry just smiled, "I could tell you what everything is for if you want?" 

"Some other time maybe," Draco said, waving off the offer. "Right now I just want some food and to get you out of this foul place as soon as possible." He said snarling and nearly shifting as his prowling had led him to stand in front of the cupboard where Harry had spent so much of his childhood.

"Easy there. It's over. I'm never going to come back here again. Not even if Dumbledore himself begs me." Harry said, coming up behind him and rubbing soothingly over Draco's shoulders.

The blonde relaxed back into Harry, taking some comfort in Harry's touch.

"You will allow me some revenge, won't you?" Draco asked hesitantly turning around and pinning the brunet with his eyes.

"Dray..." Harry began hesitantly.

"No, Harry. These people tortured you, a defenceless child for so many years. They need to be taught a lesson. I will have my revenge. Don't tell me it doesn't still hurt you? Doesn't still affect you in a hundred different ways?" Draco insisted.

"I wish I could. I really wish I could. But I really don't want to think or even talk about them now, please?" Harry pleaded and leaned into Draco's touch as the blonde pulled him closer.

"Alright, alright. I'll let it go, for now. But the topic is not closed. If, when we survive this madness with old snake-face, then we will revisit this topic. Alright?" Draco insisted.

"Fine. If we must." Harry said sighing and pulling away from Draco to finish frying the eggs and bacon. When he was done, he plated them up and set one plate in front of Draco before seating himself opposite the blonde to dig in. They ate companionably, bouncing around ideas of where they could go and what they could do together the rest of the summer. Draco wanted to go back to the Manor, but they weren't sure that it would be safe for either of them since Voldemort would probably be paying Draco a visit before long thank to Lucius giving him easy access to the Manors wards while he was in Azkaban.

The Leaky Cauldron was an option, but it also wasn't safe since Voldemort and his Death Eaters were very present and active in the wizarding world. Draco couldn't come to the Burrow as he wouldn't exactly be welcome there thanks to the ongoing enmity between Weasleys and Malfoys. Even if Draco was willing which he was not, Harry couldn't just show up with Draco in tow. They finally decided on Grimmauld Place as they finished eating and Harry sent the dishes to the sink with a wave of his hand.

As Harry was supervising the spell that was cleaning the dishes, an owl swooped into the room straight at him. Harry petted the bird which perched on Harry's shoulder and took the letter from it. Draco picked up some leftover bacon and fed the bird which took off shortly.

"Huh, Dumbledore says he's going to be here this morning. He says he needs my help with something and will be dropping me off at the Weasleys after that. He wants me to be packed up and ready before he arrives." Harry said after reading the letter which he handed to the blonde.

Draco snorted as he read through it himself.

"He has the nerve to believe that you will listen to him without question after all he has done to you over the years," Draco said an annoyed expression on his face as he followed Harry up to his room to pack.

"He has the whole wizarding world to worry about, Draco. Not just me. It's fine. Ever since my parents died, I don't think anyone has made me their first priority. I'm used to it." Harry said, shrugging dismissively.

It hurt Draco to hear his mate so dismissive about his own importance. He vowed to himself there and then to always make Harry his first priority. Draco thought it was only fitting that they be each other's first priority as even his own parents had usually put their own interests ahead of him.

"Well, we were planning to leave here soon anyway. Might as well wait and see what Dumbledore has to say before we leave. Besides he's the secret keeper for Grimmauld Place so he can tell you the secret and make it easier for us to get there." Harry continued pulling his trunk out to start flinging things into it, oblivious to the thoughts flitting through his mate's mind.

"For Merlin's sake, Potter!" Draco exclaimed as he watched Harry's version of packing. "Here, let me. You sit there and look pretty." He smirked and waved a hand, muttering a soft spell to pack Harry's things.

The upside of their elemental abilities had been that they had helped both boys wandless magic so they could now do most spells without the aid of a wand. In some cases, their wands were actually a hindrance in making the spells stronger.

Harry smirked back at the blonde and muttered fondly, "You are such a ponce."

Draco sneered, "I just like things tidy. That's not being a ponce. That's just basic good breeding." He said, but there was no bite behind it.

Harry grinned and watched as the blonde sorted and folded everything in his trunk.

"I don't think my trunk has ever been this tidy," Harry commented as his trunk finished packing itself and closed.

"We really need to get you new clothes. You can't go around wearing that whale's clothes anymore." Draco commented as he aimed a cleaning spell at Hedwig's cage.

"Yeah. I could do with some new clothes and trainers, I guess." Harry said, looking down at his ratty shoes.

Draco snorted, "We'll get you properly sorted out as soon as possible. We may have to shop exclusively in the muggle areas for a while and under glamours, but I'm sure we can do that before we have to go back to school." He said, settling himself next to Harry on the bed.

"I don't particularly like the idea of you going back to the manor alone but don't you think you should go and pack your things as well if we're going to be spending the holidays together?" Harry asked quirking a brow at the blonde as he pulled him closer to nuzzle his neck.

"Please, what do you take me for? There is a reason it took me so long to get here. I packed everything I need." Draco said, patting his pocket and pulling out his shrunken trunk before slipping it back inside.

"Hmmm. I do like how organized you are." Harry commented, finally allowing his lips to meet Draco's and quickly deepening the kiss.

As they lost themselves in kisses, they heard the Dursleys waking up. Both boys deliberately ignored the sounds and lost themselves in their kissing.

A wordless expression of anger pulled them apart, and they turned to find Vernon Dursley purple in the face with rage glaring at them both.

"You—boy—what." The man sputtered angrily.

"You're right Harry; muggles are pitiable if this specimen is the best they can manage." Draco drawled standing up slowly in a way that would look lazy to anyone else, but Harry knew it was actually a preparation for an attack. Harry quickly stood as well and took Draco's hand in his own to help restrain his ummm....boyfriend? Mate? He didn't know and now wasn't the time to be pondering these things. With a shake, Harry brought himself back to the present where he could see that the fat bastard was just gaining control of himself and building up to yell at Harry. Harry sighed.

"Before you say anything you should know that I'm leaving today and you'll never see me again. I'm done with you and this place." Harry broke in before Vernon could build up steam.

"I'll say you're done. This dump is not worthy of the Chosen One. I'll show you what real wealth is like once we've dealt with old snake-face." Draco sneered his nose in air, "You'll like the Manor. It has acres of gardens and woods to explore plus a Quidditch pitch." He said, rubbing gentle circles across the back of Harry's hand soothingly as he felt him tense.

"You, get out of my house, Boy. Ungrateful brat! Go, now and don't show your face again. It's bad enough that you're a freak, but now I won't have your faggot ways corrupting my Dudley." Vernon sputtered purple with rage, his fists clenched against his sides as if he was just waiting to strike.

"Yeah, yeah. We're leaving in a little while. Just waiting for Dumbledore to show up." Draco drawled glaring at the fat muggle.

Petunia and Dudley who had been drawn by the noise of Vernon's snarls peered curiously if a little sacredly from behind him.

Draco pulled Harry along and walked downstairs to settle himself comfortably on the sofa in the living room with Harry next to him, stiff as a board with tension.

"I think maybe we should wait outside in the front yard," Harry said softly.

"No, we are going to stay right here and if the fat fuck has something to say I will happily eviscerate him here and now," Harry said shifting just his fingers to claws and pretending to study them. 

Harry could see the Durselys pale and retreat from them as they overheard the conversation, just like Draco had intended. Despite his need to avoid confrontation, Harry couldn't help smirking at the blonde pleased to hear the frightened meep from Petunia as the Dursleys retreated to the kitchen to hide.

"That was mean." He said grinning at Draco.

"Don't pretend you didn't like it, Potter." Draco drawled grinning back at him. The blonde then pulled him closer and continued kissing him where they had left off. Harry happily reciprocated. It was an excellent way of passing the time, and he wondered that he hadn't tried it before. He could have been spared a lot of trouble and angst with Cho if he had just taken up kissing Draco Malfoy earlier, he thought and snorted pulling away from the kiss.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked affronted.

"Nothing. Just thinking that we could have saved ourselves a lot of bruises if we'd taken up snogging earlier." Harry answered, and Draco grinned at him.

"It's not my fault that you didn't realise my charms earlier Potter," Draco said mock-sneering at him.

Harry grinned and tugged on a lock of fine blonde hair, "Too bad you were such a prat for so long." He said teasingly.

Draco flushed partly from embarrassment at the thought of how badly he had behaved by following his father's footsteps and partly from the thought of how wonderful it would have been to spend the past few years snogging Harry instead of fighting with him.

Before either of them could do anything else, they were interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. Harry looked up to see Dudley peering at them nervously.

"Erm... I just. I wanted to say...um..." Dudley stammered wringing his fat fingers in his nervousness.

Neither Harry nor Draco tried to help him. Harry because he was surprised that Dudley had found the courage to speak to him after what Draco had said and Draco because he was curious and didn't care about making things easier for the muggle.

"I j-just wanted to say thank you for saving my life last year. I mean if I'm never going to see you again then I just thought I should tell you." He prevaricated, shifting nervously, "And I just....it would be ok if you let me know if you are alright occasionally." He finished and before harry could get over his shock, he turned on his heel and disappeared back to the kitchen.

"Wow...I just...wow. I never thought I'd see the day. Dudley actually thanked me." Harry said, still gaping after his cousin.

Draco smiled, fondly at his mate and squeezed his hand. "Maybe there's hope for him yet." He said, looking after the fat boy speculatively.

"Maybe there is." Harry agreed quietly leaning into the blonde as they spoke in soft voices of what they would need to do next if they were going to hunt Horcruxes out in the world. They couldn't decide on anything definite other than that they needed to get to Gringotts as soon as possible so they could fund their hunt. They would also need to go back to school despite the urgency of finding the Horcruxes as that would be the most likely place for them to find the rest of their pack as the Lady had instructed them.

As they were discussing possible hiding places for the Horcruxes, there was a knock on the door, and Harry got up to answer it as it was most likely Dumbledore.

Harry pulls open the front door to find Dumbledore twinkling happily at him from the front step resplendent as usual in his colourful robes. 

"Hello, Harry, my boy. Happy birthday. I do hope I am not interrupting any birthday celebrations?" He said as Harry let the old man in.

"Thank you, Professor. It's a good thing you came today. There's something we needed and you being here makes it easier." Harry said, leading the Headmaster in to the living room where Draco was waiting.

"Oh? We....you say? Have your friends been corresponding with you over the holidays then?" Dumbledore asked curiously his voice cutting off as he spotted the Malfoy heir calmly lounging on the sofa.

"Hello, Professor." Draco drawled and settled his arm around Harry as the other boy sat down next to him.

"Mr. Malfoy. I wasn't expecting to see you here. How is it you boys are on such friendly terms?" The headmaster asked struggling to maintain his unflappable, omniscient exterior and failing badly as he made a show of seating himself opposite the boys to stall for time.

"Draco and I have been talking, and he agrees that following Riddle will only cause him more trouble than it's worth. He wants to switch sides. His mother has fled to the continent, and his father is in Azkaban. He needs a safe place to stay. I was wondering if we could both stay at Grimmauld for the rest of the holidays. Would that be possible Professor?" Harry said as politely as possible, squeezing down on Draco's thigh as he felt the other boy tense in preparation to speaking.

"It is most admirable that you wish to switch sides, Mr. Malfoy. But I thought you would prefer to spend the summer with your friends Harry?" Dumbledore asked his eyes calculating, the twinkle back in them.

"It would be nice to see them again, Professor but Draco would be bored all alone. And quite frankly the Weasleys are a little too loud for me right now. I would rather stay in Grimmauld right now with just Draco." Harry answered politely, still keeping a firm grip on Draco's thigh to prevent him from speaking.

"Very well, my boy very well. There isn't much I can say about it anyway seeing as Sirius left it to you in his will. That is one of the things we needed to discuss today." Dumbledore said finally, his eyes softening slightly as Harry felt himself gripped with melancholy at the thought of Sirius. Draco pulled him closer in a one-armed hug, trying to comfort his mate.

"Sirius left everything he owned to you. You are his heir in all things it seems. We can check it if you would summon Kreacher and he responds then we would have proof that it has worked." Dumbledore finished his eyes keenly observing the interplay between the boys.

Harry grimaced at the thought of the filthy house-elf but dutifully called for him. "Kreacher." He called, and the elf appeared with a pop.

"Half-blood master summoned?" The elf began and then goggled at the sight of Draco with his arm draped around Harry. He then took another look at the boys and sank to his knees.

"Kreacher is sorry. Kreacher begs for the forgiveness of the alpha and most blessed of the Lady. Would Master forgive Kreacher?" He begged, slamming his head repeatedly into the floor as they stared at him in shock.

Harry recovered quickly and grabbed the house-elf by the back of his dirty pillowcase.

"Stop it Kreacher. I order you to stop punishing yourself." He said, and the elf stopped hitting himself. Harry exchanged a glance with Draco and sighed, "Will you make a vow never to betray me or those who I consider family in thought word or deed?" Harry asked.

"Kreacher is honoured that Master would give him a second chance. Kreacher will vow." The little elf said, bobbing his head frantically, "Kreacher vows on his magic to never betray Master or his pack in thought word or deed." The elf finished, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Harry could barely stand to see the little elf still, but it had been a few months for him mentally since Sirius' death, and Draco had helped him see that it had not been entirely the elf's fault for being manipulated into it. It had been Draco who had suggested that they make the elf take the vow if they ever had occasion to deal with him again.

"Alright Kreacher, get up. I want you to make the house spotless and prepare it for Draco and me to stay in for the rest of the summer holidays. Can you do that?" When the elf bobbed his head in agreement, harry nodded back, "Good. Go now." Harry finished, and the elf popped out immediately.

"That's him taken care of for now," Harry said, turning to Draco who just nodded and they turned back to find Dumbledore eyeing them both interestedly. It was clear that the headmaster's shrewd mind was rapidly calculating the changes he had seen and coming to some somewhat wrong conclusions but as it was in their best interests to keep their secrets neither of the boys bothered to correct him. They knew that it would go against the omniscient image that Dumbledore tried to portray and so the scheming old man would never come right out and ask them anything.

Dumbledore nodded, "If you boys are ready, then let's go." He said, getting up, "I do have one small errand that I need your help with Harry. If you would?" he said as Harry walked upstairs to pick up his trunk and haul it down even though he knew he was perfectly capable of shrinking it and levitating it wandlessly he refrained. The more secrets he kept from Dumbledore, the better he felt, especially considering the Lady's distrust of the headmaster. He directed his owl to go to Grimmauld place and wait for him there, and she pecked him affectionately and flew off.

"Of course, Professor," Harry said nodding as he watched Dumbledore shrink his trunk and Hedwig's cage. He quickly pocketed them both as soon as they were shrunk.

Draco got up as well and followed Harry to the door. As he reached the door, Harry turned and spotted the Dursleys cowering in the doorway and feeling awkward waved half-heartedly at them. Dudley was the only one who responded with a wave; the older Dursleys were too busy glaring at him.


	4. Chapter 4

The errand that Dumbledore had been keen on was supposedly recruiting a cowardly new professor who Dumbledore had told harry would try to ‘collect' him. Quite disgusted with the idea and the fact that Dumbledore would be willing to use him this way Harry merely nodded and forced a smile. Draco merely rolled his eyes and kept silent through the entire exchange. As they were leaving Dumbledore mentioned that the Weasleys had planned a big party for him that evening and Harry just sighed. Of all things, the last thing he wanted was to celebrate his birthday with all the noise and confusion of the Weasleys. If he had a choice, he would prefer to just curl up with his mate and discuss the day's events.

"I don't think it's fair to leave Draco all alone in headquarters while I celebrate, professor," Harry said quietly but firmly.

"I don't know that they will accept him at your side all of a sudden, Harry," Dumbledore said softly.

"If you would send a message and ask them if they are willing to have him and they agree, then I'll go. But I'm not leaving him alone with Kreacher on his first day there." Harry said, crossing his arms in front of him. 

Draco sighed, "I'll be fine, Harry. You can't just ignore your friends like this, not for me." He said, turning Harry to face him.

The only thing they would not be hiding from the rest of the world was the depth of their relationship. It was something they had both agreed on as it would be too exhausting pretending to hate each other in addition to everything else they had to do.

"But, Dray. I want to spend my birthday with you." Harry said pouting at his mate and putting on his best puppy-dog look. He had seen how effective it could be when Hermione was nagging him too much to study.

Draco smirked, "That won't work on me, Potter. I'm a Slytherin remember." 

Harry sighed, "Fine, but I'm not staying the night. I'll be home by nine." He said definitively.

Draco nodded. "Good. I'll have Kreacher make a light supper for us." He said as Dumbledore apparated them to Grimmauld Place. As soon as Draco, taking Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage with him had gone in with a wave to Harry, he turned to the headmaster and took his arm to be apparated to the Burrow.

As he took the headmaster's arm, he noticed the ugly ring on the old man's finger and the charred desiccated appearance of the hand.

"What happened to your hand, professor?" Harry asked, curiously.

"My own foolishness caused me this injury, my boy," Dumbledore said. "It was one of Tom's little baubles, and I foolishly put it on before checking for curses and hexes. It has been thoroughly destroyed now, my boy. Never fear." The headmaster said patting Harry's shoulder with his intact hand.

Harry examined the ring as carefully as he could without raising the headmaster's suspicions and felt a faint trace of soul-magic. It had a revolting oily feeling to it unlike the pure beauty of the way he felt around Draco. So the ring had been a Horcrux then. Harry surmised and kept quiet.

~*~

When they landed in the Burrow, he was greeted with cheerful shouts as the Weasley twins, and Ron pelted towards him followed more sedately by Hermione and Ginny.

Dumbledore nodded to everyone and disapparated after bidding everyone enjoy themselves and wishing harry for his birthday again.

Harry wished he had stayed to help him soften the blow of him having to return Grimmauld that night and Draco's presence in his life.

"Harry, mate, isn't it wonderful? You get to stay here for the rest of the summer." Ron said, coming up and pounding him on the back.

Harry merely smiled weakly and didn't answer. He noticed the suspicious glance that Hermione gave him when he didn't answer.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Ginny said as she reached them.

The twins swiftly hoisted him onto their shoulders while singing ‘for he's a jolly good fellow' at the top of their lungs as they carried him inside and through to the backyard.

Harry couldn't help grinning at their exuberance. When he was set on his feet, he looked around to see all the Weasleys other than Charlie and Percy gathered in the backyard. Neville and Luna were also there along with the twins' friend Lee Jordan as well as Hagrid and Remus. Harry smiled around as everyone came up to hug him and wish him a happy birthday.

He spent some time chatting with each person and carefully steering the conversation away from anything to do with his summer holidays. Finally, after he had cut his cake, and everyone was busy eating the enormous feast prepared by Mrs. Weasley, she cornered him and asked him to put his trunk in Ron's room.

"Umm....actually I left it in Grimmauld Place." Harry hedged cringing inwardly at the explosion he knew was coming. "I'm going to be spending my summer there." He finished.

"But, dear, we can't have you staying there all by yourself." Mrs. Weasley said aghast.

"Oh, I won't be there by myself. Draco will be there with me." Harry said softly, hoping against hope that the argument to come wouldn't be too bad.

"What? Draco? As in Draco Malfoy?" One of the twins said having heard him despite how quietly he had spoken.

Harry just nodded and didn't add anything else.

"The ferret? You're going to spend the summer with the ferret? What the hell, Harry? I thought I was your best mate. Why would you spend the summer with the ferret when you could spend it with me? With us?" Ron exploded going red in the face. 

The twins looked at him, speculatively and kept quiet.

"He's changing sides and now that his dad is in Azkaban and his mum has fled to France or some such he needs a safe place where Voldemort can't get at him. I'm staying there to keep him company." Harry explained, simply.

"Dumbledore knows?" Bill Weasley asked interrupting Ron who had just opened his mouth to let lose a tirade all over again.

It was more statement than question, but Harry nodded anyway.

"I don't believe it. I wouldn't trust the ferret as far as I could throw him." Ron spat. "I can't believe that you would either." He said glaring at Harry.

"I trust him. We've been talking over the summer, and he's changed. He's still a prat, but he doesn't believe in his father's warped ideals anymore." Harry said, smiling fondly at the thought of Draco even if he didn't realise it.

Hermione gasped at the sight, and Harry's eyes caught hers, brown meeting green and questions being asked and answered without the need for words. She finally nodded, and Harry sighed with relief.

"If you're staying there then I'm coming too. I don't trust the ferret, and I'm going to prove to you that he's upto something." Ron said and stomped towards the house.

Mr. Weasley stopped him before he could enter.

"Harry trusts him, and Dumbledore trusts him so I think you should leave it be Ron." Mr. Weasley said softly.

"But-but." Ron sputtered, but his father just shook his head firmly, and the red-head subsided, a mutinous expression on his face.

Neville and Luna didn't have much to say about the news and Harry spent the rest of the party with the two of them and avoiding Hermione and Ron. He didn't think he would succeed in avoiding Hermione for long, and he was right.

As he was leaving to escape the party that had now become tense and awkward, he found Hermione waiting for him at the floo.

"You've been talking to Malfoy? And you never told us?" She asked quietly.

Harry nodded. With her so close and alone with him, he could feel the pull and connection to his pack, so he knew he could tell her a version of the truth. He had been feeling the connection all afternoon, and he had a feeling that most of his pack had been right there in the Burrow with him and he was pleased with this further confirmation that he wouldn't lose one of his closest friends over his new powers.

"Things have happened. If you wait a little, I have a feeling that all your questions will be answered." He said, "Trust me. Please." He finished.

Hermione nodded, "You promise?" she asked, and when Harry nodded, she sighed and nodded back. "You're dating him now, aren't you? Or you want to?" she said, looking up at him again.

Harry sighed and smiled despite himself, "Yeah something like that. He's still a prat, but he's my prat now." Harry said.

Hermione stared at him in surprise and wonder. She had never seen Harry look so happy and couldn't quite believe that it was Malfoy who was the cause of the fond smile on her best friend's face.

She nodded and handed him the floo powder, "Go then, spend the rest of your birthday with your prat. I'll make your excuses to the others." She said, teasing lightly. "I don't quite trust him yet, but if you do, then I can give him the benefit of the doubt until you can explain everything." She finished a slightly worried frown marring her pretty features as soon as Harry pressed a quick, grateful kiss to her cheek and practically dove through the floo.


	5. Chapter 5

When Harry got to Grimmauld Place, he was surprised and pleased by the changes he could see in just a day. The whole place was clean and even though the furnishings were a little moth-eaten and well used the general air of neglect was missing now from when Sirius had been alive. It hurt Harry's heart to think that all that had been needed to get Kreacher's complete co-operation was the vow and the blessing of the Lady. Sirius might not have been so miserable during the last year of his life if he had gotten his inheritance just a little earlier. He sighed as he made his way to the library, where he could feel that Draco was waiting for him.

"Hey, how did it go? Get anything interesting?" Draco asked, looking up from the book that he had been reading.

Harry came upto him and sank to the floor next to him, placing his head in Draco's lap.

"That bad, huh?" Draco asked, carding his fingers through Harry's messy dark locks.

"Not really. It went better than I expected. I think you can count on Ginny and the twins to give you the benefit of the doubt. Also Neville and Luna. I don't think they have an opinion as yet. Hermione agreed to hold most of her questions for now when I told her they would be answered soon enough. It's Ron who is the problem and maybe Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, looking up at the blonde weariness in every line of his body.

"You're going to tell Hermione everything later?" Draco asked sceptically.

Harry nodded, "I could feel it when I was alone with her. She's part of the pack. In fact, I have a feeling that all of our pack other than you were at the party" he said watching the blonde closely to assess his reaction.

Draco grimaced slightly but nodded, "I guess it makes sense. It would be difficult to find any of my Slytherin friends who would easily follow your lead, even with Lady Magic's backing." He said.

"I know. You weren't easy to convince, and I had a feeling that you were more willing to be convinced than any of your friends." Harry nodded.

"Not to change the subject, but did you notice a certain dark, slimy feeling in the air in this house?" Draco asked after a few minutes of silence as Harry brooded and Draco went back to his book.

"Yeah, it's always been there. I figured it was all the dark artefacts in the house." Harry said shrugging.

Draco lightly slapped him on the back of his head, affectionately, "You didn't think it might just possibly be a Horcrux?" he asked.

"It is? You found one?" Harry asked, sitting up eagerly.

"Yes. Kreacher had it. He said Regulus asked him to destroy it before he died, but he hasn't been able to so far." Draco answered nodding.

"That's brilliant. Where is it?" Harry asked, getting to his feet, eager to destroy another part of the bastard who had so poisoned his world.

"There, in the drawer," Draco said, getting up and coming to stand next to Harry, pulling it out and giving the necklace to Harry.

"I think this is Slytherin's locket. Don't you?" Harry asked, turning it over in his hands and wincing at the horrible aura of the locket.

Draco nodded, "Want to do it now?" he asked, and when Harry nodded they went into the empty basement room and set wards around the locket before Harry summoned the Fiendfyre to destroy the Horcrux as they had been taught.

After a few minutes of holding the fire on the locket and watching the evil darkness that rose from the locket emerge and dissipate with an inhuman wail, Harry let the fire go out.

He sank to his knees, tired and Draco sat next to him, supporting his weight and brushing sweaty dark locks out of his eyes.

"Wow, that took it out of me." Harry gasped when he could get his breath.

"Well, it's the first time you conjured fiendfyre outside the Lady's realm. And you had to destroy the Horcrux as well." Draco said comfortingly.

"Yeah. Hopefully, it will get easier." Harry said sighing, and he buried his face in Draco's neck and rested for a while.

"Did you notice the ring on Dumbledore's hand? The one that looked burned?" Harry asked after a while. When Draco nodded, Harry added, "It was a Horcrux. Now destroyed. I think that might have been the lesson in humility that the Lady was talking about."

"That's good. That it was destroyed, I mean. And if that was a lesson in humility, then I don't think he's learnt it." Draco said, "So that's three down and how many to go?" he asked.

"I believe the Lady said it was seven total, including the one in me. So it's actually four down and three to go." Harry answered. At the mention of the Horcrux in Harry Draco's arms tightened around the brunet but he didn't say anything.

Neither boy liked to think about the way Harry had been carrying around a part of Voldemort's soul inside him for all these years nor how nobody had done anything to help.

After resting for a while, both boys eventually got up and made their way into dinner.

"In all the drama I forgot to bring my presents back with me," Harry said sighing.

"Don't worry. Now that you've met most of our pack I have a feeling that we'll be receiving visitors tomorrow once the Lady has been able to activate their inheritances and train them." Draco said, laughing softly.

~*~

Both boys had curled up together in the bed in Harry's room after dinner, fully expecting to be brought into the Lady's realm to help train their pack. So when they opened their eyes and found themselves looking at the pale green sky again, they sat up and grinned at each other.

"I see you're finally here?" Harry heard a familiar voice saying. They looked up and found the twins looming over them.

"Welcome, oh mighty alpha and beta." One of the twins said bowing low with a teasing air about them.

"So this is why you trust Draco then?" Hermione said as she came up and joined the twins, followed closely by Ginny, Neville and Luna.

Harry nodded and stood up, pulling Draco along with him.

"He's my soulmate, ‘Mione," Harry answered simply.

"It took a lot to convince Miss Logic here that this was real and the Lady was real," Fred said gesturing to Hermione who flushed.

"But I understand a lot of things now," Hermione said, elbowing him in retaliation.

It hurt Harry to know that Ron wasn't a part of his pack and he knew that it wasn't likely that their friendship would survive after this. He had known in the back of his mind from the beginning that Ron's jealousy wouldn't allow him to stay Harry's friend, but he had hoped. And now that last hope had been extinguished.

Draco could feel Harry's disappointment as he looked for his first friend among his pack and didn't find him. The blonde stepped up and put an arm around his mate in a one-armed hug, and Harry smiled at him gratefully.

"I wouldn't worry about our prat of a brother. If he opens his mouth after this, then we will handle him." George said nodding decisively and exchanging looks with his siblings.

"It's not your fault that he's a jealous idiot. You have us all now." Ginny added.

Harry nodded gratefully and changed the subject to their training. It turned out that Harry and Draco had only been brought in towards the end of the training that the rest of the pack was getting. They were now training to fight together and attack as one.

The two boys happily joined the rest of their pack in being trained by Shadow. Fred and George together controlled the weather, Ginny was wind, Luna was water, and Neville was Earth. Hermione controlled fire. Together they were a force to be reckoned with. It was a mere two weeks in realm time when they were declared trained, and they were dismissed back to their sleeping bodies.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry and Draco woke up wrapped around each other in their pardus forms and spent a little time admiring each other's forms for the first time in the real world and licking each other's faces. In this world, Harry could see that Draco's eyes were not blue-grey as he had thought but sharp steel grey, almost silver and he found himself admiring the beauty of his soulmate's eyes and perfect white fur. For his part, Draco admired the shine of the jet black fur on Harry's body in the early morning sunlight and got a little lost in all the various shades of green he could see in Harry's eyes.

When they finally shifted back to human Harry pressed a gentle kiss to Draco's lips and rolled out of bed holding out a hand for the blonde. The boys dressed and breakfasted in comfortable silence. Both were feeling a lot more peaceful than they had ever before in their lives.

Just as they were finishing their breakfast and discussing what they would do for the rest of the day, the floo flared, and Hermione came in, followed by Fred, George and Ginny.

"Good morning, fearless leader--," Fred started.

"--And fearless leader's mate." George continued in his way.

"So what do we have planned for the day?" Hermione asked, looking between Harry and Draco.

"We were thinking of going shopping and getting Harry here a whole new wardrobe," Draco said and laughed at his mate who was making faces and grimacing at the thought of a day spent shopping for clothes even though he agreed in principle that he did need them.

"Yes. It's more than time for him to get a proper wardrobe." Ginny agreed, and the rest nodded.

"Traitors, all of you." Harry pouted, and they just laughed at him good-naturedly.

"Come on. We better leave soon. It was hard enough to get away before Ron woke up and tried to tag along. Let's get going before mum tells him where we went." Ginny said and hustled everyone out the door.

"I'll let Neville and Luna know where we are going so they can join us," Hermione said quickly writing a note and sending it off to Neville.

The others had mostly already figured out who their respective mates were before they arrived and it didn't surprise Harry and Draco at all to find that they were all paired up and in one case a trio. Hermione and Fred were a couple, and despite their inherent differences, quite pleased with this. Ginny was paired with both Neville and Luna. George, on the other hand, didn't have a mate yet, so Harry figured that either they were still missing part of their pack or George's mate was not a pardus. The others in their pack didn't have as strong a mating instinct as their alpha and his second so most of them could ignore it for now.

They decided to use the knight bus to get to Diagon Alley first so Harry could get some money for his shopping trip. They would shop muggle for the most part after that and introduce the pure-bloods among them to the joys of muggle clothing stores.

"Do you think we should really exclude Ron like this? Maybe if we include him now, he won't be as bad..." Harry began hesitantly.

"I, for one, would like to have a trip without Ron bitching at Draco and trying to start fights for the sake of it," Ginny said, and the others nodded though harry could see the sadness in Hermione's eyes just like his. They shared a glance of understanding and Harry hugged her close grateful that he had at least one of his oldest friends with him. Draco smiled at them, wishing for Harry's sake that Ron would eventually come around.

~*~

When they got to Diagon Alley, they met up with Neville and Luna before Harry and Draco left the others in Fortescue's while they went on to Gringotts. Goblins rarely had the patience for large groups, and those little carts didn't take more than four at a time, so the boys went ahead alone.

The goblins like Kreacher could sense the Lady's blessing in both boys and were very accommodating. The mere mention of the presence of the Horcrux in the vaults as they entered Harry's vault had them in a meeting with the goblin chief himself and allowed them to obtain the cup from Bellatrix's vault. In no time at all that Horcrux was also destroyed and after a short rest, so Harry could recover from his conjuring of fiendfyre, the left the bank well pleased with their morning's work. 

By the time they had got back and told their friends what had happened in the bank, the pack had devoured their ice creams and were waiting for them. They quickly left the alley before any stray Death Eaters could spot Harry and report to their master. 

The pack had a fantastic time shopping for things for Harry, with everyone having an opinion on what he should wear. Draco, of course, was the loudest. When the blonde saw the variety and styles in the muggle stores, he started salivating, and the rest of the pack had to practically drag him out before he could spend all the muggle money he had exchanged that day. The trip was filled with a lot of banter and teasing, and it would have been unusual for anyone who knew them to find Draco fitting in so well in a group made up of mostly Gryffindors.

By the time they returned to the Leakey Cauldron for some lunch they were all tired, but Draco still insisted that harry needed some new robes as well so their next stop was Twilfitt and Tattings. As they sat comfortably munching on their lunches and chatting about inconsequential things, there was a shout behind them.

"Draco Malfoy! What the hell are you doing with that bunch of losers?" Pansy screeched as she bore down on the group.

Draco's face tightened, and Harry squeezed his hand in support. He knew how difficult this confrontation was going to be. 

"Pansy. It's nice to see you. I'm having lunch as you can see." Draco said without moving, his unreadable mask firmly in place on his face. The only indication of his unease the grip he had on Harry's hand under the table.

"What the fuck Draco? What is your father going to say when he hears about this? What about the Dark Lord?" Pansy spat uncaring of their audience.

"My father is currently in prison. Where he belongs, and his master can go fuck himself for all I care." Draco answered equably. 

Pansy was starting to sputter incoherently when Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle joined her.

"Hey, Draco. What are you doing slumming with Gryffindors?" The dark boy asked cheerfully.

"I made new friends, Blaise. Do you want to as well?" Draco asked a faint thread of hope in his voice nearly undetectable to everyone but Harry who squeezed his hand again encouragingly.

"Sure. You can never have too many friends." Blaise answered, smiling around at everyone at the table as he was introduced and shook hands with everyone. "I have especially been keen to meet you both," Blaise said flirtatiously as he winked at the twins.

Hermione puffed up a little in annoyance that someone would flirt with her mate while George just winked back at the dark-skinned boy.

Crabbe and Goyle meanwhile just nodded stolidly in the background. It seemed that wherever Draco led, they would follow. If it was good enough for Draco, it was good enough for them. Pansy stared dumbfounded at this little scene before storming off in a huff.

"She's going to cause you some trouble; you know that, right?" Blaise warned softly as they watched her leave.

Draco nodded sadly. "I know. There's not much I can do to change her mind though, is there." He answered, and Blaise nodded his head in agreement.

By mutual agreement, the group then changed the subject to the various pranks that the twins had pulled with the others ranking them in order of hilarity. On the whole lunch with the mixed Gryffindor Slytherin group with one lone Ravenclaw was enjoyable. 

After lunch, the group split so the Slytherins could do their shopping while leaving the pack to continue on to Twilfitt and Tatting to finish Harry's shopping.

"I felt the pack bond with them. Didn't you?" Draco asked, excited at the thought that he wouldn't be losing all his friends with his change of allegiance.

"I felt the pack bond and the mate bond with Blaise," George said softly. The red-head had been unusually quiet all through lunch, and the others were glad he was talking again.

"Oh, that's great George. I'm so happy for you." Hermione gushed, reaching out to hug the man.

"Do you think the three of them complete our pack or would there be more?" Harry asked, "I mean Crabbe and Goyle would need mates, wouldn't they?" he said and looked puzzled when Draco started laughing.

"Vince and Greg have been dating each other since fourth year, Harry. I wouldn't be surprised if they were mates. I think they round up our pack nicely. After all, we have Gryffindor bravery, Slytherin cunning and Ravenclaw smarts. A well-rounded group, I'd say." Draco said when he stopped laughing, and the others agreed a little surprised that they hadn't known that Draco's constant shadows were dating each other.

~*~

The rest of the summer passed uneventfully. The Slytherins joined the pack with Blaise being able to control all metal and Vince and Greg a variation of Neville's earth powers where they could only control rocks and ores respectively. As expected, the couples formed, and the pack was complete. The others in the pack usually met up in muggle London or Diagon Alley as much often as possible so they could see their mates and spend as much time as possible together while Harry and Draco being the most wanted on Voldemort's hit list stayed at Grimmauld Place researching the Ravenclaw artefacts to figure out which one was being used as a Horcrux. Pansy had wasted no time at all in letting everyone know about Draco's changed loyalties, and Voldemort had responded as expected with orders to capture and kill Draco. 

Neither boy minded staying home as they got to spend a lot of uninterrupted time with their mate with only the occasional Order meeting bringing other people to the house. And since neither boy was of age yet, they weren't allowed to attend these meetings. Thus the summer passed, and soon it was September first, and Harry was running around trying to find his things that had gotten spread around the house somehow while Draco laughed at his disorganized mate. Draco, of course, had already packed the day before and was feeling rather smug about it. 

Finally, the blonde took pity on his mate and packed Harry's trunk with a few flicks of his hand. Harry was most appreciative. So appreciative that they were almost late getting to the station. Remus and the Tonks who were in charge of security for the boys were most amused, and Harry tried to contain his embarrassment. They were side-along apparated to King's Cross by the two Order members with some others spread in the crowd at the station as added security.

Harry had a hard time not rolling his eyes at this as he and Draco hardly needed this much security with their new powers. But it kept Draco safe, so he was not about to quibble.

The pack had been avoiding Ron and had succeeded for the most part over the summer as other than a disastrous visit to Grimmauld with Fred and Hermione he never intruded on the boys. During that one visit, he did manage to thoroughly alienate Harry and Hermione as well as the rest of the pack by accusing Draco of being a traitor and trying to hex or potion Harry into trusting him and refusing to listen to any explanations or logic from either of his friends. A thoroughly annoyed Fred had finally dragged the angry, screaming red-head to the floo and tossed him in to send him home. Now the boys weren't looking forward to seeing the hot-headed boy again on the train.

Another worry harry and Draco had was that they had gotten used to sleeping in the same bed and weren't sure if they could manage on their own anymore. They had decided to try alternating dorms using the invisibility cloak to sneak in and out as needed. They knew that their pack would cover for them, but there were a lot of roommates who weren't part of their pack. The boys had been sleeping in the same bed but had been taking things slowly as far as sex was concerned, neither wanted to rush things and other than a couple of mutual handjobs and a blow job or two they had stayed mostly to snogging the breath out of each other.

Now as they made their way to the train, they reflected on how much had changed over the summer. At the beginning of the summer, they had hated each other, and now they were well on their way to a full bond as soulmates as well as that much closer to being able to get rid of Voldemort once and for all. There only remained the Ravenclaw Horcrux and Nagini to get rid of. And harry had high hopes of being able to get rid of both soon with the help of Snape who had been acerbic but supportive of Draco changing sides and more than willing to help his godson if not Harry by poisoning the foul beast with basilisk venom.

Now, as the boys greeted the rest of their pack and found seats on the train, they were all filled with optimism for the coming year.

~*~*~*~*~


End file.
